Olympic body to seek funding restored at Shane Ross meeting

The Olympic Council of Ireland is expected to meet with the Minister for Sport Shane Ross in the early days of next week to seek a reinstatement of its suspended State funding.

The Board of the OCI wrote to Mr Ross on Thursday seeking an immediate meeting. The letter followed a lengthy meeting on Wednesday night that sought to address all the concerns about its governance raised by the Rio ticketing affair, and the role of former president Pat Hickey.

A spokeswoman for the OCI, and for is president Sarah Keane said that no meeting had been held as yet but said it was likely to take place early next week.

Mr Ross was not available for comment Friday.

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The meeting on Wednesday night accepted all the finding made by the special report into the controversy by retired judge Carroll Moran, including an audit of ticket distribution and revenue. It also stated it would handle all its own ticketing arrangements for the next games, the Winter Olmpics next year.

The board also made an undertaking that Mr Hickey would not return to the board of the OCI.

“The board tonight unanimously agreed that it would not accept the return of the former president to the OCI Board,” it said in a statement.

It also agreed that it would cooperate fully with an investigation into the situation regarding Mr Hickey being carried out by the ethics commission of the International Olympic Committee.

The OCI’s State funding was suspended when concerns about the organisation’s governance arose following Mr Hickey’s arrest at last summer’s Olympic Games.